One thing I can't complain about with this job is the pay.  Yes I've had to fight for detention pay on several occasions now, but they pay up once they realize their mistakes.  I wasn't keeping track of it until I noticed on a pay stub that I was short something like 15 hours of detention and now? I keep track of all of it.

Anyway, I've made almost double this year already than what I made at Ferguson for an entire year.  There's still 5 paychecks left to go in this year so I'll likely be  close to double and half what I made there.  It's one thing I am considering in attempting to decide whether to stay or go with their new rules after the company was merged with another one and brought under a newly formed parent company.  I'm pretty sure most drivers won't be getting any safety bonuses now, which is bunk.  No accidents, no moving violations, no warnings or tickets for roadside checks? THAT is what it should be based on.

Not some nefarious data sent via Quaalcomm that shows you going 2 miles an hour over the company speed limit because you went down a hill "too fast" at 67mph.  That's just purely ridiculous and in my view, obviously a sign that they just want to cut costs by making up outrageous rules that mostly no-one is going to keep. I honestly don't care how fast the truck goes down the other side as long as it isn't going too far over the speed limit, it makes up for time lost going 45mph going UP that same hill. Sounds minuscule but when you are climbing up and down hills all day long, it adds up. 

So, without safety bonuses every quarter? I dunno, I need a summary of how many I got before this new rule and how much it adds up to.  Oh, it's right on my pay stub.  It wasn't that much anyway.  Kind of lame actually, I got much more in one lump sum at my previous employer than several of them here, but then again, my previous employer wasn't paying me jack squat so there is that little point to take into consideration.  I know companies that give out thousands of dollars a year in safety bonuses based on the real criteria I listed above. 

But I'm seeing all kinds of new job opportunities being posted locally now. As the driver shortage continues, the rate for drivers pay is going up with it, whether it's mileage pay, hourly pay, percentage of haul pay -etc., lots of ways they can formulate your pay.  I'm not joyfully happy with this current company but I'm not upset, mad and aggravated with it either, such as I was with previous one when they brought in that a-hole manager with the temper problem and dumped him on us, knowing he was going to be an issue from the outset.  His manager didn't care and I frankly hope that particular store goes under because of it.  The only criteria they looked at was his job performance, not whether he is true management material. 

No sense in going into all of that and bringing up bad memories. Anyway, there are irritations, I'll call them, with current company such as the trouble it is to get them to fix things.  The truck is in the shop and the freaking thing can stay in the shop until all of it is fixed.  That's my assessment, tho if it sits in there too long I"ll be dumped into a temp truck, a thing a very much dislike. I've got my truck set up the way I want it.  They could give us a bigger sleeper tho.  It's not like we need the room for the trailers. There is at least 5 feet between the back of the sleeper and the front of the trailer, a couple more feet of space would be very nice considering how much time is spent in them.  That's another thing, this company outruns a truck's usefulness, by hundreds of thousands of miles worth. Whereas many or even most major trucking companies get rid of trucks after 300k, 350k, 400k miles, this one seems to have no limits.  Mine is at 655k and it's doing the stuff that trucks with mega miles do. Things start failing.  That's why major trucking companies get rid of them. They can't afford a bunch of trucks with a lot of down time.  And this one can? No, they are promising to buy something like 1,500 new trucks in the next coming months. 

I won't hold my breath considering the promises they made when I came on board and the fact that a recent news report I read says that orders for trucks are up so high that manufacturers are having trouble filling the orders.  We're in a booming economy, dunno how long it will last, but we are in "high times" right now and one should take advantage of it if one can.  My friends I live with, wish they could find something better locally.  They just aren't getting paid that much money and they really struggle with bills and trying to make ends meet.  Not a slam on them, really if I were their age and had to do this all over I would definitely get into college - even if student loans, finding a career that is in high demand and pays well - or get into a trade school. 

As for my desire to try and get a business degree, I may just dump that notion.  It's just not worth that much money this late in life.  2 year degree, minimum puts me at almost 56 years old and then you start at the bottom if you go into management.  Tho that isn't my goal, my goal was get some real business knowledge and  education to learn how to run a business. 

Day 5 on diet.
About 1,200 calories on the menu today, all low carb/no carb stuff.  I finally saw a change in the keto strip tester to the first stage of ketosis.  I read that exercise helps and so I was digging up dirt and hauling it around front. That's pretty good exercise.  I checked after doing that and that's what set it off.  But it needs to go to the dark purple range to really have fat burning going on.  I wore myself out - really great lack of energy so far - but I'm going back out there in a few and doing some more of that.